Rep. Rick Crawford has spoken out against raising the debt ceiling, but has also faced his own personal financial struggles.
But in addition to a lawsuit brought by his former wife over more than $100,000 in unpaid child support, which the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week, Walsh is also facing a lawsuit from a former campaign staffer who says he is owed $20,000. Walsh has also in the past accrued thousands of dollars in unpaid condominium fees, failed to pay thousands of dollars in back taxes and lost a home to foreclosure.
Walsh has had several tax liens placed against him, according to public records. The largest of the liens — $21,566.40 owed to the federal government — was the result of an educational trust fund on which Walsh did not know he owed taxes; it has since been repaid. He has likewise repaid state liens that amounted to a couple of thousands of dollars, about $5,000 owed to the condominium association that manages the home he lost to foreclosure and a $4,250 judgment to a furnace company. His most recent personal financial disclosure shows no liabilities and reports assets worth no more than $46,000, though Members are not required to list assets such as personal residences and certain retirement accounts.
The lawsuits brought by his ex-wife and former campaign staffer Keith Liscio are ongoing. At the end of June, Walsh’s campaign owed about $11,000 to the law firm handling work related to disputing debts owed to Liscio and the law firm Mayer Brown.
Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy has said supporting Boehner’s plan gives him “heartburn” but that he will do so anyway to get a deal through the House and the Senate.
In a recent column, Duffy wrote: “I have consistently said that if the president is willing to cut up the credit card, I’m willing to pay the bill. But I cannot agree to a debt limit increase without serious, fundamental reforms to the way Washington spends its money.”
Duffy told attendees in March at a town hall meeting that no one is more familiar with debt than himself.
“I can guarantee you or most of you — I guarantee that I have more debt than all of you,” Duffy said during the question-and-answer session. “I still pay off my student loans. I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used minivan. ... I struggle to meet my bills right now. Would it be easier for me if I get more paychecks? Maybe. But at this point, I’m not living high off the hog.”
Financial disclosures filed by Duffy in May reveal that, at some point during 2010, two of Duffy’s personal credit cards each had balances of at least $15,000. In addition, the Congressman owed at least $15,000 on a line of credit with Wells Fargo and had a balance of $50,000 to $100,000 owed on his student loans, as well as two mortgages totaling at least $150,000 on a property that has been described in news reports as his lake cottage. Duffy’s listed assets are valued from $110,000 to $400,000.
“Like many Americans, the Congressman has student loans and credit cards that he’s paying. To suggest that he’s somehow fiscally irresponsible because he’s got credit cards and a student loan is simply absurd,” Chief of Staff Brandon Moody said.
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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